Russian bombers near UK airspace – again

Russian Tu-95 “Bears” have again been probing the UK’s air defences to find weaknesses. Over the last few days Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from both RAF Leuchars and RAF Coningsby have been scrambled to intercept the aircraft which have been flying near British airspace.

It was reported yesterday that on at least on occasion they had cause civilian air traffic to be rerouted in order to avoid collisions. Due to this extremely provocative behavior the Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has summoned the Russian ambassador to explain the behavior of the RuAF.

The number of incursions by Russian aircraft has increased dramatically over recent years to the point where it is at nearly Cold War levels. In my personal opinion, this shows increasing resolve from the Russians to see how prepared we are with sanctions imposed over Ukraine.